A Lonely Blossom
by animeduchess14
Summary: The Akatsuki are well known in the Shinobi world. They were S-rank criminals who show no mercy. Until that fateful day...they attacked Konoha, planning to destroy the powerful hidden village. Many lives were lost, making the 5 year old pinkette, Sakura Haruno, an orphan. Because of the day, her life changed forever.
1. Chapter 1: Adaptation

_Chapter 1: "Adaptation"_

The Akatsuki are well known in the Shinobi world. They were S-rank criminals who show no mercy. Until that fateful day...

_~ 14 years ago ~_

The Akatsuki attacked Konoha, planning to destroy the powerful hidden village. Many lives were lost, making the 5 year old pinkette, Sakura Haruno, an orphan. Because of the day, her life changed forever. She saw her own parents die right before her eyes.

_Sakura's POV _

I heard a loud scream from my living room. Curiously, I went to check if everyone was ok. I was told to stay under my bed or table in my room, because word got around that invaders entered Konoha. As I went to check it out, I saw my mother and father, lying on the floor, covered in crimson blood from head to toe. I was hyperventilating. "Mo-mother? Father! Wake up! Come on! Let's leave!" They didn't budge. "Mother? Father! Wake up! Come on!" I was being denial.

I started to shake my mother's shoulders back and forth, hoping to get some type of reaction out of her. "Come on guys! I need you!" I noticed my father was trying to mumble something, but he couldn't get it out loud enough. I let go of my mother and scooted next to my father, attempting to hear what he was trying to say. He looked up at me with his cold, dark eyes.

"Father? Hang on just a little longer ple-"He then looked up at me and said shakily, "Sakura. I love you, and I know that you will become a strong kunoichi. We love you, Sakura." With that being said, his eyes were starting to go to the back of his head. "No…no you're going to live!" I got up from my current position, and ran to the bathroom, hoping to find anything that could help my parents.

I looked in the cabinets only to find nothing, because we were going to the market tomorrow. I ran back to the living room when I found both of my parents out cold on the floor. I was only 5, but because my mother was a high ranking medical-nin, she got me to train with Tsunade-sama, one of the best medical-nins around. I attempted to heal my father, since he had a faint heartbeat, whereas my mother had none.

I attempted to bring back my father's faint heartbeat, but it never came back. "PL-please don't die! I don't want to be alone! I need you!" I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I hated being alone. I couldn't stand it. I felt like someone was watching me when I'm by myself. I looked around the house to find a window. When I did, all I could see was destruction. I heard people calling out for lost loved ones, glass breaking, and animals on the loose. I saw fire everywhere.

I ran back to my living room, and ran out the front door. I had to get out of Konoha. But before I could, I was stopped by the back of a tall man. I prayed to Kami that he wasn't an enemy. I started to cry profusely. The man was wearing a black cloak that had red clouds across it. He had crimson hair, similar to the blood on my hands. In front of him was a lean blonde, with long hair that covered one of his eyes. He too adorned the same cloak. The man with crimson hair spoke up," Hey Deidara. I think I found something." He turned around and glared at me. "Oh really? What, un?" The blonde turned around and started to glare at me too. "A girl? What should we do Sasori, un?"

The man I think named Sasori bent down to my level. "She looks like a sad little doll." I could tell that the blonde was getting impatient. 'They are going to kill me, aren't they Inner?' _'Let's hope for the best outer.'_ Deidara walked up to me, "Our orders were to kill all citizens so…"

_Sasori's POV_

"I know, but I just have this feeling that something is different about her." She looked so unique. Adorned with a large red bow, which must help her feel at ease with her abnormal forehead. Pink hair, emerald green eyes, and porcelain skin, she was indeed different. I could sense that she nearly perfected her chakra control as well. Which was quite impressive at her age.

"Different or not, we always follow Pein's orders." Deidara was right, but still. "Hey Deidara ~ didn't we need help around the house?" I mentally slapped myself, knowing that made no sense whatsoever. "Well yeah, but why would we need her? She's just a little kid." I was completely shocked, because I think Deidara was actually buying it. I knew he was idiotic, but I totally made that up.

"Hmm- Let's go ask Kakuzu. He has the whole plan figured out already." With a quick nod, Deidara left to go find Kakuzu. I prayed to Kami he would agree, because if we killed her, it knew for sure it would reprehend us later, and we were in dire need of a medic. Deidara and Kakuzu came running back to us, and the little girl was still crying. I knew I shouldn't care about her, but I felt like this was my fault. I could see how lonely the little girl was. Kakuzu looked at me with no emotion whatsoever, "I guess we can take her. She's not really a threat." I could tell just by looking at his face he thought I was going to turn her into a puppet. But he was wrong, dead wrong. "Just hurry up and get out of here. I'll tell Pein the details." He ran off before I could even say anything.

Deidara nodded at me. I decided I would break the awkward silence. "So what's your name little girl?" She looked up at me with tears still springing from her eyes. Quietly she said,"Haruno. Sa-Sakura." She looked back down at the ground. How ironic. Her hair matched her name. I took her hand and grinned, "Well let's go, Sakura." We walked away from her dilapidated house. WE didn't run, because she was holding back. She stopped to look back at the recently demolished Konoha. I thought to myself, 'Konoha isn't worth your time anymore.' "Are you sure this is ok Sasori, un?" Before I had the chance to reply, Sakura interrupted," Sa-Sasori?" I looked down at her, she wasn't crying anymore.

"Yes, Sakura?" I could tell she was frightened by us. "Wh-where are we going?" She was quite hesitant to ask. "We're going home Sakura." Her beautiful emerald eyes widened. "Oi! Don't give her false hope, un." "I'm sure she'll be ok. Right, Sakura-chan?" She looked up at me when I said 'chan'. She nodded and continued to walk with me. She made me feel so at ease, like I had emotions again. Deidara knew this might backfire on us, but I didn't care. I wanted to take that risk. He mumbled to himself, "This is a horrible idea, un." He continued, "She's gonna get ripped to shreds! S-criminals aren't really the friendly-type, un.""Don't worry, I'll take care of her." Sakura looked up at me again, "S-criminals? Aren't those bad?"

"See, I told you, un." "Shut up baka! I got this!" I bent down to her level to tell her eye-to-eye, "Sakura-chan, I promise that nothing will happen to you.""You mean that?" Her innocence was like a magnet to me. "Promise." I could sense she was lonely and only wanted someone to trust. But why do I feel the obligation to take her in?


	2. Chapter 2: Realization

Chapter 2: "Realization"

_Sakura's POV_

We walked up to this woman who had a paper-like flower in her dark blue hair. "It's about time you got here. Kakuzu already told me-let's go." She put her hand on my shoulder, and when I looked up at her she actually smiled at me. I could hear Sasori mumble, "Sakura-chan, close your eyes." I was afraid they were going to know me out, so I kept one eye open, only to see my legs and arms disintegrating into paper. I closed my eyes, horrified to see myself disappear.

When I opened my eyes, we appeared in front of a large boulder, with a huge sign on it, I couldn't read it but the writing was in red ink. Deidara, Sasori, and the dark haired lady quickly did some hand signs, and the boulder lifted from the lake we were standing on. We walked in, but I couldn't see a thing it was so dark. It had an eerie aura. "Where are we?" was all I could get out. I heard someone chuckle. "I already told you, we are home Sakura-chan."

We continued to walk in the dark until we reached another door. Deidara opened it, and we finally walked into a room with light. I only saw one man in the room, who also had a black cloak with red clouds across it. He had long black hair, which was put into a pony tail, and Konoha headband with a slash through it. "Sasori- who's the little girl", he said sternly.

"Sakura Haruno. My new roommate." "That's unhealthy perv." I prayed to Kami he was kidding. "If she's anyone's roommate, it would clearly be Konan, not you baka." Sasori looked really mad. "I'm not a baka!" I giggled at his last remark. His facial expression was hilarious. Everyone in the room looked at me like I was crazy. "It's rare to see someone happy here, un." Deidara had a smile on his face, but the others grew silent. No one was happy here? I hope it's not too boring here. "Anyways, Sakura-chan – Konan will show you your room." Konan reached for my hand, and I happily took her. I waved goodbye to Sasori, and left the room with Konan.

_No POV_

Itachi started a long speech when Sakura and Konan left. "Why did you bring an innocent little girl here? Do you know what they will do to her once they come? Very few of us are decently civilized anymore." "What do you mean by that?" Itachi continued with his boring speech, "I understand you feel pity for this little girl, but we are criminals, S-ranked. She won't last here very long – unless you had something else in mind?" "I'm not going to do that to her. I have a hunch that she can become a threat within time." The Uchiha may be young, but he was a great debater. "You lack common sense." The two sat in silence. They were yelling so loud Sakura could hear them bickering down the hall.

_Sakura's POV_

"Inner what do they mean by 'I can become a threat'?" _'I guess they see potential in you kid.' _"Who me? I hardly know anything besides medical jutsu!" _'They most likely need a medic then.' _ "Great." Konan noticed the pinkette was staring off in space and couldn't help but laugh. "Did I say something Konan?" "Huh? Oh, no. We are almost to Pein's office. It's this way." The hallway wasn't lit very well. It seemed like the hallway let to another making the whole base just a huge maze! We reached a door finally at the end of the winding hall. Konan knocked on the door, and then we walked in. The room had no windows at all. There was only a desk with a lot of papers on it neatly stacked. Behind the desk, there was a chair, with a man sitting in it. But he was turned around so I couldn't see him at the time.

_Pein's POV_

"What do you need Konan?" I was having a rather stressful day today, and I didn't feel like particularly talking much today, not that I ever did anyways. "We found, well Sasori found a little girl and we decided to take her in. I wanted you two to get acquainted." I turned around to see a small girl with soft pink hair and emerald green eyes. It was her.

"Right. Thank you Konan." She left the room, with a small smile on her face. The little girl looked frightened. I already knew the answer, but wanted to break the silence, "What's your name little girl?" She looked down at the floor. "Haruno. Sakura." "Nice to meet you Sakura." She was too scared to even look up at me, so I turned around. "I do hope that you will be staying here, since you don't really have anywhere else to go. You will become a strong kunoichi with us. If you put in the effort at least." Still no reply. "Anyways, welcome to the Akatsuki, my name is Pein, but you can call me Leader-sama." "Umm, Leader-sama?" I turned around,"Yes?" "You need a medic don't you?" I sighed, thinking about that made me flinch. Kakuzu and Konan were ok at medical jutsu, but not to be able to save someone if they are dying. "Yes, we do." "I…can do some medical jutsu, but not a lot. I was training with Tsunade-sama before Konoha was attacked, and I was supposed to enter the Academy next week."

"Well we have plenty of scrolls about medical jutsu you can study off of. And I'm sure our members can help you train as well." She looked a little relieved to hear that. "Is Sasori a member here?" She had a small smile on her face. "Hai. I presume you will start training with him soon. Eventually you will meet all the members." She looked a bit shocked. "How..how many members are there?" "Well including myself there are ten members." "Um Leader-sama? What exactly do the Akatsuki do?" I knew she was going to ask that. "I guess you could say were kind of like spies." Her eyes widened. "That's so cool! I wanna be a spy!" "First you will train. Then I'll think about it." She quickly jumped out of her chair and hugged me. She actually hugged me? "Hai!" "Konan, please show Sakura to her room." Sakura returned back to Konan and waved goodbye.

_Sakura's POV_

'_He seems like a nice guy outer.'_ I couldn't agree more. He has a scary face, but I think I'll get used to it in time. I kinda like it here. We went into another hallway which had a ton of doors. The last door on the right was going to be my room. The room was rather plain. White walls, a desk with a lamp nest to it, and the bedding was just a solid black. There was also a bookcase near the desk. The good thing was it had a closet and its own bathroom, which was quite spacious. I sat on my new bed and looked up at Konan. "Within time I'm sure this room will have a pretty pink feel to it." "We can paint the walls?" "Sure! I don't see why not. You are living here now." "Thank you Konan!" She nodded, "If you need anything ask me ok? Jaa ne!" When she shut the door, it felt really lonely in my room. Almost like it would be completely lifeless in here if I wasn't sitting on my bed. Should I leave my room? I didn't know what to do, so I walked over to the bookcase which had a couple of books in it. I picked up a book about medical jutsu and sat on my bed. _'I have a feeling you're going to be reading a lot.' _With a sigh I agreed with Inner. Hopefully Sasori will come in here or something. Leader-sama said there were 10 members including him. So Leader-sama, Konan, Deidara, Sasori, that weird guy with red and green eyes, and I think his name was Itachi are the ones I've met. So the other four don't even know I'm here. I hope they aren't scary. I started to read the book, which actually made sense to me. Before long though, I fell asleep from exhaustion.

_Next Morning_

"Sakura-chan. Wake up." The voice was quiet, but I could still process it. I slowly rubbed my eyes and saw Sasori standing over me. "Sasori? Is that you?" "Hai. Let's go eat breakfast and then we can start training." He took my hand, and I quickly followed him. After many twists and turns in the hallway, we finally entered a large room. The kitchen was huge! The dining room table sat for 15 and had a nice dark finish. At the dining table sat Deidara, Itachi, and a man who looked kind of like a shark. Sasori told me to go sit at the table while he made pancakes. I sat next to a half-awake Deidara. I just stared at the table because I knew that Itachi and that other man were looking at me, and of course they sat across from Deidara and I.

The man started to talk. "Oi! Isn't that the girl that Leader-sama was talking about Itachi?" Itachi started to read, but before he did he replied with a simple 'Hn'. "Isn't your name Sakura?" "H-hai." I decided to look at him. He had oddly colored hair and skin. "Name's Kisame, kid." "Nice to meet you, Kisame." I smiled, overlooking his stare. He continued to talk with Itachi about some mission they were going to do next. I couldn't help but notice how young Itachi looked. Maybe 15 or 16? He must be really powerful to be in the Akatsuki. Sasori returned to the table with the pancakes. Everyone thanked for the food and started to eat the delicious breakfast.

Deidara was still sleeping surprisingly. "So Sakura-chan, do you know any ninjutsu?" "I know some taijutsu and medical ninjutsu, but that's it. I was going to start the academy next week." "How old are you kid?" "I'm five." Kisame looked kinda shocked. "How do you know medical ninjutsu then Sakura-chan?" "Well my mom was a high ranked medical nin so she got Tsunade-sama to teach me the basics." Itachi looked up from his book. "This Tsunade-sama is one of the three Sannin, correct?" "Hai. At the time she was also teaching me ninjutsu, but I only know a little." They all looked kinda surprised, like they didn't believe me. _'Well you are pretty young outer.'_ Sasori looked pleased with my answer. "Today we are going over basic ninjutsu, ok?" "Hai!" I smiled hoping for the best today.


	3. Chapter 3: Renewal

Chapter 3: Renewal 

_*Training Grounds*_

Sasori and I have been training for four hours now. Surprisingly, I quickly mastered making a clone, which I was really happy about. Then I started to throw kunai. I totally failed at first. It didn't even make it to the tree! Before I did anything else, Sasori gave a huge speech about chakra control to me.

"Chakra takes time and a great deal of training to gradually build up. The key is not actually having chakra, but being able to sufficiently control and conserve it. Everyone has chakra, but only skilled ninja can correctly "mould" and "manipulate" it to its fullest extent." I thought his speech was totally boring, but I understood the jist of it.

I continued throwing kunai, taking short breaks to listen to Sasori's tips. He was a great sensei. We both agreed that I would wake up at 7 and train till 5 pm until I mastered tree climbing, water walking, and throwing kunai. The Akatsuki training grounds were beautiful, to me at least. It had a huge forest, a lake, dueling areas- everything a Shinobi would need to train.

_*Next Week*_

I couldn't believe it but Deidara actually agreed to train me today while Sasori was out on a mission. I've talked to him a couple of times, and it seems like once you get to know him he was actually really nice. I was really close to mastering the tree climbing technique, and I had a feeling today I was finally going to master it. "So what exactly were you and Sasori working on, un?" "Well the first day I mastered making a clone. The third day I mastered throwing kunai, and since then I've been working on tree climbing, which I'm really close to mastering." We were sitting on the ground, observing the marks that I had made on the tallest tree. "You're doing really good Sakura, un." he said with a smile. "You really think so?" "Sure! I didn't master throwing kunai in just two days! That's crazy, un!" I gave him a decent smile and told him I was going to continue climbing the tree until I made it to the top of the tree.

Before I continued climbing, I went over what Sasori had told me a couple of days ago. I had to make sure that the stream of chakra wasn't too weak, because I would fall off or too strong because I would be pushed away from the tree, causing me to fall again. I've done that so many times I can't even count. I wanted to prove to the Akatsuki that taking me in wasn't a mistake. I wanted Sasori t to be proud of me. _'With that ambition Outer, surely you will.'_ I smiled at Inner's comment.

_*2 hours later*_

"Oh my gosh, Deidara! I did it!" I looked over to see a sleeping blonde out cold on the ground. I couldn't blame him. S-ranked criminals helping a delusional 5 year old with basic chakra control must be boring. I decided to reward myself by taking a quick nap. _'Good job, Outer.'_ I leaned up against a tree, and an hour later I woke up, much more energized. It was only 10 am, and Deidara was still asleep. I quietly laughed, and decided to make a clone of myself so I could double my improvement of tree climbing. As I was making my way to the top of the tree, I heard someone yelling. Unsure of who it was, I flawlessly made my way down the tree, and quickly jumped down. "Deidara-sensei? Are you ok?" I walked over to where I last saw him, and luckily found him, but he was fighting with Sasori. "Sasori-sensei! Your back!" "Oh! Sakura-chan -oomph." I tackle hugged him, but I barely made him budge. "How was the mission?" I looked up at him, and quickly jumped back to my feet.

"Successful. How long has Deidara been asleep Sakura-chan?" I looked over at a pleading Deidara,"Not very long." Deidara mentally thanked me. "Oh, ok. Did you master the tree climbing technique yet?" "Yeah! You wanna see?" He nodded. I made a quick clone and quickly ran up the tallest tree with ease. When I reached the top, I waved down at Sasori and Deidara and made my way down the tree. Sasori smiled at me. "Great job Sakura-chan!" "Arigato!" I loved Sasori's praise. We had quickly connected, and I somehow felt like an adopted little sister of his. "I have to report back to Leader-sama. Want to come with?" "Hai!" We walked back to the base, Deidara waved goodbye to me and continued his sleeping.

I finally found my way around the base. I knew where the majority of everyone's rooms were. But I didn't know where Konan and Leader-sama's were. Sasori knocked on Leader-sama's door, and we both sat down in front of him. Sasori told Leader-sama that the mission went smoothly and some other details about the mission. "Good. And what brings you here today Sakura?" "Oh, um. I finally mastered tree climbing today!" Sasori patted my head. "Keep up the good work. Eventually I'll get Itachi to train you soon." "Hai! Arigato Leader-sama!" I smiled at him, and then we both left his office. "Let's call it a day , Sakura-chan." I could tell Sasori was really tired from his mission. "Ok! See ya later!" I ran off to my room to continue reading this interesting scroll I found in the library the other day. As I was making my way back to my room, I accidently bumped into someone. "Oh sorry Itachi!" "Hn." He walked away without another word.

'_Do you think he hates me Inner?'__ 'I think he's just quiet.'_ I couldn't help but wonder if that was really the case. Kisame and Leader-sama were the only ones who he could hold a conversation with. For some reason I really wanted to know exactly why he was ignoring me. I ran up behind him, "Itachi! Wait!" He turned around and looked down at me. "What?" "I really want to know- do you hate me?" "No." "Then why do you keep ignoring me?" "Hn." He started to walk away again. As a gut reaction, I grabbed his hand. "Itachi! Please tell me." Without turning around he said, "Because you remind me of him." "I remind you of who?" He sighed and let go of my hand. He turned around and started to head back to where my room was. "Are you coming or not?" Surprised, I followed him. I opened my bedroom door and at on my bed, while he closed the door and pulled out the chair from my desk. "You've heard of the Uchiha massacre, right?" I nodded. "Then you would know who you remind me of." "Wait! I only heard of it, I didn't know who did it. I just knew that one person made it out alive." He looked at me and said," I was the one who did it, and I spared my little brother, Sauske. He's your age in fact. That's why you remind me of him. I was…quite close to him." "Then why did y-""Because it was an order." "Oh."

We sat in silence for a while. "So you don't hate me?" "No." I jumped off my bed and gave him a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad." I let go of him, and curiously watched his reaction. He actually had a small smile on his face. "I have to go now, ok?" "Ok. Bye Itachi." He left my room without another word. _'I told you he was the quiet type.'_ For some reason I really cared about what Itachi thought of me. _'Well he is going to be a future sensei of yours.'_ I totally forgot about that! After Itachi told me that it was an order, I felt really bad for him. I wanted everyone's approval, and it seems like Itachi just gave it to me. Sasori had told me not to talk too much to the others members when I first got here, but I feel like deep down everyone one here is misunderstood, and they came to be understood. _'You're pretty keen, Outer.' __'Haha, thanks Inner.'_

I picked up that scroll I was going to read earlier. I looked over at the clock, only to find out it's just now noon. I was utterly bored. I gave up on reading and ventured out of my room, back to the training grounds. _'I wonder if Deidara is still there.'_ "Oh yeah!" I rushed out back and found him still sleeping underneath the same tree. "You sure sleep a lot Deidara." I giggled. "Huh? Oh! Sakura! Sorry about earlier, un." "It ok. Hey could you do me a favor?" "Sure, un." "Could you help me with the water surface walking technique?" He smiled and stood up. "That technique is more advanced than the tree climbing one. You sure, un?" "How much more advanced is it?" "Well, you have to emit a constant chakra stream from the bottom of your foot, using the repellent force to walk across the water's surface. It's more difficult because the amount of chakra that needs to be emitted changes constantly, un." "That sounds hard." "Here, let me show you, un." We walked up to the edge of the small lake near the training grounds. He took of his cloak and shoes and set them on the dock. "Watch me feet carefully, un." "Hai." I watched curiously, and was amazed by how easy he made it seem. He was practically skating across the water without even trying! He walked back to the edge of the dock where I was sitting. "Was that hard?" He laughed, "No not really." "You're so cool sensei! I can't wait till I can do that!"

We sat next to each on the edge of the dock. "Sensei? What village are you from?" "Iwagakure, un." He looked up at the sky and continued, "I was in the Explosion Corps before I blew up the place, un.""You blew it up? Why did you leave?" He sighed and looked back down at the lake. "I found out about this kinjutsu that was passed down in Iwagakure, un. It was a technique that allowed the user to knead chakra into substances. I broke the law and stole the technique, and ran away because I was being pursued, un." "I'm sorry." He looked up at me. "Itachi was told to recruit me and at first I refused. He beat me in battle, so I joined, un." "How old are you Deidara?" "Nineteen, un." "You're pretty strong." He patted my head and stood up. I looked back at him to see him grab his shoes and cloak, and then he headed back for the base. _'He's pretty nice.' __'Yeah.'_

_*Next morning; Dining Table*_

I finally gained the courage to talk to Kisame. While Sasori, Itachi, Kisame and I were eating I decided to ask him. "Um, Kisame?" "Huh?" "I was wondering if maybe you could train me when Sasori is off on his mission soon?" "Sure kid." "Really?" "Yeah." "Thank you Kisame!" We continued eating. I never thought he would agree. _'Maybe he has a soft spot for you.' __'I hardly have talked to him Inner.'__ 'Never know.'_ I was starting to get used to living here. I already trusted quite a few People. Especially Leader-sama, Konan, Sasori, Deidara, Itachi and hopefully I can trust Kisame too.

_*Training grounds; an hour later*_

"Deidara-sensei, is this how you do it?" I already had my shoes off and a swimsuit on, because I've fallen in like 10 times. I was trying to emit the same amount of chakra, but only got two steps in and quickly fell, but got back up quickly. I was pretty good at swimming fortunately. "You almost got it Sakura, un!" I tried to focus my chakra, but the water was repelling it too quickly for me to catch on. I sighed and tried again, only to get another two steps in. I tried again and again only to get the same result. "What am I doing wrong Deidara-sensei?" "Your reaction against the water is too slow, un." "Hmm." I got off the dock and tried again multiple times, and slowly got up to 20 steps. It was already 5, so we headed back in. Deidara and I parted ways in the hallway. All I think about was how badly I wanted to master this technique.

_*3 days later*_

"Remember, if you get two minutes in, you can say you've mastered it, un." "Right!" I took off my shoes, already in my swimsuit, and started to heads towards the edge of the dock. Deidara had a stopwatch in his hand. "Ready, un?" "Hai!" I quickly got off the base and began walking around the lake. I concentrated on the movement of the water. I could hear Deidara yell, "Good job Sakura! Only a minute left, un!" "Hai!" I was really concentrating._ 'You're doing good Outer. Keep it up.' _ All of a sudden I heard Deidara say, "You did it Sakura, un!"I walked over to the dock and thanked Deidara. "Thanks for being my sensei." "Anytime Sakura, un.""Hey I have an idea!" "What, un?" "Let's play hide-and-seek!" He sighed and agreed. "Dibs on not being it!" I laughed, when he said, "Yeah yeah, un. I'm gonna start counting now, un." He turned around and started to count. I ran away as fast as I could, and hid behind a large bush. I waited about five minutes and there still was no sign of him. "I wonder where he oomph" Someone put their hand over my mouth.

_*No POV*_

The masked man knocked the pinkette out cold. He made some hand signs, quite a few, and then put his thumb in the middle of her forehead. A small, green diamond shape appeared. He quickly looked around and left the scene, with Sakura still unconscious.

_*Deidara's POV*_

Man she was good at this. It's been half an hour and I still can't find her. I figured I would just give up, but then I saw something pink lying on the ground. "Ha! I found you, un!" I ran up to her. "Sakura? Oi! Are you awake, un?" She was taking after me. She didn't respond. What the heck was that thing on her forehead? "Oi! Wake up Sakura, un!" She wouldn't respond so I picked her up and ran back to the base and into Leader-sama's office, where Konan was talking to him. "Deidara? What's wrong?" "It's Sakura! Someone knocked her out, un!" "Konan." "Right." I handed Sakura over to Konan, where she then walked back to Sakura's room. She gently put her on the bed and started to heal her.

_*Pein's POV*_

Deidara explained to me what had happened. I've heard the jutsu before, but I couldn't remember the side effects. Sakura's previous teacher, Tsunade, had the same curse mark. I walked over to the bookcase in my office and found the scroll I was looking for; Common Curse Marks. I quickly found out that the curse mark gives the person incredible speed, strength and a massive chakra upgrade from their previous levels. Unfortunately there was a side effect, but the scroll also didn't list what it was. I walked out of my office to see if Sakura was awake or not. I happened to walk in right when she did.

_*Sakura's POV*_

"Konan? Konan! I was attacked!" "Shh. It's ok. Tell me what happened." Just then Leader-sama entered. "It was horrible! I was playing hide-and-seek and then all the sudden this masked man put his hand over my mouth and then he knocked me out! I was so scared!" I leaped forward to hug Konan. "It's ok Sakura. He isn't here. Just calm down." I sat back in my bed. "I'm sorry Konan." She smiled, "It's ok." Leader-sama walked up to my bed and put his hand on my forehead. "It's a curse mark." He turned around and continued, "It gives you strength, speed, and a massive chakra upgrade. Lucky for you, I haven't found any serious side effects either. Tsunade had the same mark."

I looked up at him when he mentioned Tsunade-sama. "So it's a good thing?" He nodded, and left without saying anything else. Konan looked at me, "If you need anything~" "hai." I smiled, and then she got up and left. So it's a good thing? _'I guess so.'_ Sasori and Deidara walked in. "You ok Sakura, un?" I tried to act tough in front of my sensei's. "Yeah. I was just a little freaked out that's all. I guess this curse mark is a good thing according to Leader-sama." _'You are a horrible actress Outer.'_ "You should get some rest Sakura-chan. I'll tell Kisame ok?" "Arigato." They both said their goodbyes and left. I totally forgot about Kisame. I hope he's not too mad at me. _'Don't worry about it Outer.' __'Thanks, you always make me feel better Inner!'_ I quickly fell asleep, satisfied that I mastered the technique Deidara taught me.

**(A/N) Thank you so much for reading! Please review and I'll submit chapter 4 as soon as possible! ^^**


	4. Chapter 4: Fear

Chapter 4: "Fear"

_**~9 years have passed, now 14, Sakura is equivalent to chunin level after intense training**__.~~ _

_ (A/N) I might make the 9 years that have passed into another fan fiction! ^^_

_Sakura's POV_

"Leader-sama? Konan?" They weren't in his office. I looked around the whole base even. In fact, no one was here besides me. _'Have you ever been alone here by yourself at the base?' __'No never. There was always someone here.'_ It was about noon, so I decided to make some lunch. I turned out to be a pretty good cook too. I usually made dinner, while Sasori usually made breakfast. We both took turns making lunch. "Hmm, what sounds good…oh! How about miso soup!" I turned around, only to remember that no one was here. "Right." I continued preparing lunch. I grinned remembering an old memory. "So I'm the lonely blossom, huh Inner?"

_*flashback; Sakura POV; 4; Konoha*_

"Tell me the story about the little girl again Mama!" The older medical nin smiled. Her daughter loved this story, but she didn't know why. It was pretty sad after all. She never did tell her what happened in the end either. "Shh. Ok, ok. I will. But try to calm down, it's pretty late blossom."The little pinkette frowned. "Ok." "Remember how it starts?" She shook her head no; it was too late for her to remember. "Ok. I'll start then. There once was a little girl, full of life, with pink hair. She had a comfortable life with her mother and father, the Land of Water's Lord. One day her mother fell ill. The little girl was heartbroken because she loved her mother deeply. Eventually the sickness got to her and she passed away. Te little girl was extremely distort. She never asked her father for anything, but the day after her mother's funeral she asked her father if they could get a cherry blossom tree planted out in their lavish backyard, and of course he agreed. Every day the little girl recited the same poem underneath the tree. 'A lone tree, with thousands of petals. Each holds a dream, only to fall to the ground. The blossom tree now bare, has no ambition, like me-the lonely blossom.

_*end of flashback*_

I smiled, remembering the last good memory I had of my mother. All my old, sad memories were replaced with new, happier ones with my dysfunctional family, the Akatsuki. I finally finished making the soup, and sat down at the table savoring it till the last bite. After I finished washing the dishes, I walked back to my room, eager to read the new medical scrolls Konan had got me on her last mission. Quietly I sat at my desk, immersed in the scroll. After an hour, I realized since no one was here, I don't think anyone would mind if I took a nap would they? I laughed as I curled up in my bed. I was quite content, until I began to have a dream.

_*dream*_

I was my five year old self again. I sat in my living room, blood on my hands. I saw my parents beg for mercy as someone in a black cloak with red clouds across it killed my parents. I never had seen who killed my parents, and I realized after living with them for almost ten years- the Akatsuki attacked Konoha. The Akatsuki killed my parents. I lived with them, and I just realized this. I then reached for Sasori's hand as they took me away._*end of dream*_ I violently woke up. I felt like I was having a mental breakdown or something. _'Just calm down, Outer.'_ I was breathing heavily. My last thoughts being, 'I live with mass murders.'

_*Itachi's POV; 5 hours later*_

After a long, boring mission the first thing I decided to do was rest. As I walked down the hallway, I couldn't help but sense that someone's chakra was flustering. It was Sakura. I quickly ran to her room. She was on the floor, unconscious.

_*Sakura's POV, next day*_

I woke up after sometime, but I didn't open my eyes. Happily I could sense Itachi's chakra. I quickly fell back asleep, only to be disturbed by a horrific nightmare. I was outside, sitting in my favorite spot, the edge of the dock. I looked pretty happy. Leader-sama came up behind me. "Leader-sama is that you?" I turned around only to find that he used his Rinnegan on me. I was forced towards him instantly. He whispered, "Lonely Blossom," and then stabbed me through the heart, and continued to with a foreign object. He actually killed me. But it didn't end there. I sat in a chair, reading a book in the library. Konan did the same exact thing Leader-sama did to me earlier, except she used a small dirk. I died screaming in her arms. The same thing happened to me over and over, each time a different Akatsuki member, a different type of knife, and a different setting. They all whispered the same thing. I was killed each time by someone stabbing me. Itachi was the only member left. I continued to see the same fate of mine and screamed, causing me to wake up. I wouldn't, no I couldn't stop screaming. It was blood-curling to my ears. "Sakura! Sakura! Wake up!" The voice sounded like Itachi. I opened my eyes to see Itachi shaking me, and Deidara and Leader-sama looking over me. They looked worried. "St-stay away from me!" I removed Itachi's hands from my shoulders. "What's wrong Sakura?" Even Leader-sama showed a worried expression on his face. "J-just stay away. I-I don't wanna die!" "What are you talking about Sakura, un?"

"Everyone tried to kill me, Over and over and over!" "Did you have a nightmare Sakura?" Itachi's voice was soothing to hear. "Everyone went behind my back, and stabbed me, and smiled as they watched me die. IT happened over and over." Leader-sama held my hand. "We would never cause harm to you." "B-but I saw it with my own eyes! The Akatsuki attacked Konoha…" I started crying, "…and killed my parents! I saw everything!" Leader-sama motioned for Deidara and Itachi to leave. When Itachi shut the door, he sat in the chair he was previously sitting in. "Sakura. Please listen to me. IT was just a nightmare. No one will harm you." I stopped crying, and found comfort in this words. "Y-you promise?" "Of course." He showed a rare, small but visible smile on his face. "Are you going to be ok?" "Yeah. Because you promised." HE patted my head and left. I looked over at my clock, noon. Sasori was probably making lunch now. I washed my face and left for the kitchen-right on time.

Still freighted from my nightmare, I was extremely cautious of everyone. I sat next to Deidara. "Hey are you ok, un?" "Y-yeah." We thanked for the food, and everyone continued chatting while eating. Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, Kisame and I were the only ones at the table. Usually we were the only ones that were anyways. I looked up at Itachi who was talking to Kisame. I quickly looked down, and continued eating. For the first time, in a long time, I truly felt scared of everyone's presence. "You guys don't have any knives, do you?" Everyone looked at me like I was insane, ( which I'm starting to fell is partially true)."Why would you ask that Sakura-chan?" Deidara and Itachi knew why. "Just wondering." I continued eating, still feeling uneasy. "Hey! Sakura!" Tobi yelled at me, while tripping over something while running towards me. He gave me a hug, and I screamed, "D-don't kill me!" "Huh? Why would Tobi do that? Tobi is a good boy. "S-sorry Tobi." He shrugged it off, and continued what he was doing previously. Itachi looked at me like I was a wreck. I feel like it too. "Are you sure your ok Sakura?" "I don't know." I only showed one expression on my face- shock. And inside I only felt fear. I shouldn't let a mere nightmare get to me like this.

_*a week later*_

I woke up in a cold sweat. For a whole week I've had this nightmare. I just wanted to kill myself after having it. Inner refrained me from doing anything stupid though. I always screamed at the end of the nightmare too. On the second night, Konan came to my room to see if I was ok. But now, I think they are used to it. I truly feared everyone. I begged for mercy in the middle of conversations, and cried while training. I was an utter mess. After waking up, I got up to go outside, and sat on the edge of the dock for a bit. I got up and started walking around the perimeter of the lake. Walking on the lake always made me feel better. I felt someone's chakra as I walked back to the dock. "W-who's there?" "Sakura it's late. You should be in bed." It was Leader-sama. "I can't sleep." "Come with me." He held his hand out and slowly I took it. We were walking in the hallway, when everything went black.

_*Pein's POV*_

"sorry Sakura." I picked her up, and continued heading to the infirmary, where I met with Konan. "Everything ready?" She nodded. I laid Sakura onto the table. She had to be unconscious for us to do the tests. Her psychological thoughts were completely haywire. I sighed as I began to wonder what we should do. Konan returned with a large scroll. "I think you should look into it." She handed the large scroll to me."What's it about?" "A rare formula for a drug that can erase dreams and nightmares." I didn't even know there was such a thing. She smiled, hoping this was the answer we were searching for. The drug took three days to make. I looked back over at Sakura. I hoped this will work. I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't. I can't bear to see her go through this pain by herself.

_*3 days later; No POV*_

The pinkette started to wake up. She saw Konan talking with Leader-sama. Softly she said, "Please..just." The two looked over at her and walked towards her. "Leader-sama, Konan. Please kill me." The two were absolutely shocked. "What did you say Sakura?" Konan couldn't believe what she had said. "Please, do me a favor and kill me quickly. I can't take this anymore. I don't want to be scared. I hate that feeling." Pein walked over to a table and picked up a vile that contained a clear solution." "Drink this." Thinking it was poison; she agreed and was knocked out. Little did she know that was the drug Pein created.

_*Sakura's POV*_

_'Inner, am I awake?'_ Inner didn't answer. I found myself in a decent looking apartment. I was stunned when I was myself. She looked about 10 years older than I am now. What was she wearing? I was shocked to see my future self standing in a Konoha ANBU outfit. She didn't notice me, I tried to talk with her, but then I began to disappear. "Sakura? Are you awake?" I woke up to find Leader-sama in my room standing over me. "Leader-sama!" I jumped out of bed and gave him a tight hug. "I'm glad your back blossom." I sat back on my bed. "Hey Leader-sama, can we get a cherry blossom tree?" Surprised by the random question he said, "Sure. What's with this all the sudden?" He smiled, glad to have a normal conversation with her again. "I just find them comforting." He nodded. "How are you feeling?" "Pretty good! I feel like training already!" I felt extremely energized.

He just looked at me and retorted, "Maybe later, you need some rest." "Aww! Come on Leader-sama! I feel fine!" He gave up quite easily this time. "You can go outside, but no training, ok?" "Hai!" I ran out of my room, to the dock. I swear it's the most calming place ever. I looked up at the sky and thought to my self. 'Thank you mother and father. I can finally move on and become strong. I won't have a sad ending like lonely blossom, promise!" I smiled, truly content. I could sense someone's chakra. Suddenly, Sasori sat next to me. Happy to see him, I gave him a hug. _'That's all you've been doing all day. It's like a freakin' hug fest!' _We both looked at the lake, it was so serine. I've been meaning to ask him something, and I finally remembered. "Hey Sasori-kun. I've always wondered- why did you take me in that one day?" He smiled and looked down at the lake. "Because beauty is eternal." _'Aww!' _I have no idea what that even means. "It's ok if you don't want to tell me." He laughed and stood up, soon after I joined him. "You must be hungry." He could totally read my mind. WE both walked back to the base, discussing what we should make for lunch.

_*No POV*_

The day was filled with laughter as the Akatsuki blossom was back to normal again. She talked to everyone normally, she didn't feel threatened at all, and most importantly- she didn't' have any nightmares.

_(a/n) Uploading chapter 5 soon! Please review, and thank you so much for reading!3_


	5. Chapter 5: The Ups and Downs

Chapter 5: The Ups and Downs

_*Sakura's POV*_

_'Inner. I'm determined. I want today to be productive. I'm tired of just sitting around. I'm gonna work my butt off today!'__ 'Cha! You go girl!'_ It was 6 am. I usually don't wake up for another hour, but I wanted to get my day going already. The other members are usually awake by 9, except Itachi, Sasori, and myself who get up before 7. I got ready and quickly ran off to a former sensei's room. Still asleep too. "Deidara." No response. "Dei-nii?" Still no response. "DEIDARA! WAKE THE HELL UP! I wanna train!" That seemed to wake him up a bit. "Hmm, just 10 more minutes, un." I punched him on the head, and dragged him out to the training grounds relentlessly.

"Well?" The half-awake blonde said drowsily, "Run 3 laps around the training grounds, and meet me back here when you finish." "Hai!" I quickly ran the 3 laps, excited to train. I haven't trained under Deidara for a while now, because he's had a lot of missions lately. Also he was usually sleeping, or getting into fights with Sasori-kun. I quickly made it back in five minutes, only to see him dead asleep lying on the ground. Totally pissed off, I grabbed both of his feet and led him (well more like dragged him) in the freezing lake. "S-sakurAAA!" _'He didn't say 'un' that time! Better run fast girl!'_ I couldn't help but laugh as I looked back at him. "Get back here, un!" We were currently running in the hallways, Deidara was tracking water throughout them. "Never!" _'You're having too much fun with this.' _

"Sakura, un!" "Come and catch me Dei-kun!" I stuck my tongue out at him while running, which infuriated him even more. "You wanna train, un? Let's go spar then!" He was totally pissed. "I don't wanna now! Oomph-" I was quickly pulled over Itachi's shoulder, while Sasori-kun was controlling Deidara with his chakra strings. "Let-me-go Itachi!" Suddenly, more members arrived at the awkward scene. Itachi broke the silence surprisingly. "Sakura, what happened and why are you screaming so early in the morning?" "Dei-kun yelled at me!" _'Playing innocent might help you win this.' _

Itachi turned me around, and I had my puppy dog eyes on. _'So you are going to play the innocent card, keep it up!' _Everyone shifted their eyes to the soaked wet, infuriated blonde. His eyes shifted towards Itachi. "Only because she dragged me into the freezing lake, un!" Sasori broke his control on Deidara, which made me a bit more agitated seeing how Itachi still had a hold on me. The pressure drifted to me. "I only did that because he fell asleep while training!" It's a well known fact that the artist has tendencies to fall asleep quickly. _'At this rate you might win, Outer.' _Then everyone waited for his response, which he practically yelled out. "Because she dragged me out of bed at 6 am, un!" I somehow managed to get out of Itachi's grip and ran down the hallways laughing, picking up a few mumbles, like 'baka'. Later in the day, I formally apologized, hoping he wouldn't hold a grudge and discontinue training me. "I'm sorry Dei-nii. Please forgive me?" I bestowed him the presence of my innocent eyes, which made him look away quickly. "Yeah sure, un." I knew after all no one in the Akatsuki could stay mad at me for very long.

_***TIME JUMP; 1 Year later; Sakura's POV (Now 15)***_

Still excited, but sad remembering that yesterday was my fifteenth birthday, I replayed in my head what had happened. I was kinda stunned because only four members were at the base, being Sasori, Deidara, Itachi and Leader-sama. But we did have a small party nonetheless. I was just happy to be with my family. But back to today, because today is the day I've been waiting for a long time. I haven't been outside the base much, and I really wanted to explore. I've only been recently grocery shopping in Amegakure with either Leader-sama or Sasori-kun a couple times, so you could see why I really wanted to go out and have fun, especially with people MY age.

While I was walking towards Leader-sama's office, I started to feel happy which was soon clouded with nervousness, when I knocked on the door and sat down. "Um, Leader-sama, I was…wondering if maybe…I could go out on a..medical research trip for a month." His eyes flickered towards me. _'He totally didn't see this coming Outer.'_ "I'll think about it." I sat there in silence, totally bummed. _'Give him the puppy eyes!' _I did as Inner told me and continued with an innocent voice, "Maybe we could ask the other members what they think?" With his famous sigh he replied, "Fine. I'll hold a brief meeting tonight and ask their opinion. But mine over rules." _'Darn.'_ "Thank you Leader-sama!" I left quickly, hoping he wouldn't change his mind. _'Now to pray to Kami-sama it works!'_

_*4 hours later*_ Since most of the members were out on missions, Leader-sama asked via mind signals, if that's what he even calls them. Leader-sama informed me that so far Konan, Itachi, Sasori, and Deidara were against it, and (surprisingly) Kisame, Kakuzu, Hidan, Zetsu, and Tobi were ok with it. So basically Leader-sama gets to decide, great. _*In Leader-sama's office*_ "So, I've come to the conclusion…" "That?" This was killing me, he was doing this purposely. I wanted FREEDOM! "I've concluded that you will not be going." I felt like an arrow went through my chest, as I sulked in my chair. "But whhyy?" I was so pissed off and confused. He practically spat at, "Because you are too reckless to set out, let alone for a month!" _'I kinda agree with him Outer.' __'Oh shut up Inner.'_ "Don't you trust me Leader-sama?" He turned around, "In most cases." "GAAH!" He is soo frustrating! "Sakura, you just turned fifteen. I'm not going to send you out alone for a month." _'I swear Inner, he is so bossy sometimes.'__ 'More like all the time.'_ I sat back in my chair, pouting. "What if I-" "NO." "Hmph." He turned back around. "You're not going. Dismissed." Since he couldn't see me I stuck my tongue out at him and then sighed and gathered my broken dream that was stomped on, and left. Life is just unfair. _'I've come to the conclusion that eventually he will crack if you constantly nag him Outer.' _An evil smile erased the frown off my face.

_*10 days full of nagging and begging later* _"…and finally as the medic of the Akatsuki, I feel as though it is my duty to find out more information on jutsus that could help progress my learning." "OK Sakura." I blinked. _'Did he just agree?'_ '_I made him crack!'_ He turned around, looking me dead in the eye. "You can go-ONLY with another member of my choosing though, which I will tell you later once I finish some paperwork. Dismissed." _*Right outside of his office*_ "YES! WHAHOO! SHANNARO!" _*back to Sakura*_ I walked down the hallways, skipping, overpowered with joy. I walked into the living room to find Kisame and Sasori watching tv, Itachi reading (like always), and Deidara asleep. "Guess what guys! I'm going on the trip!" _'CHA!'_ Itachi looked up to see me jumping up and down out of excitement. "He..actually agreed?" I nodded my head profusely. "Yeah! Only if another member goes..but still! I made him crack!" I smiled graciously at my accomplishment. I skipped out overhearing someone say, "I can't believe she played Leader-sama like that." I didn't care though, I, Sakura Haruno, defeated the stubborn Leader-sama and his menacing ways.

_*Pein's POV*_

I sighed, knowing I shouldn't have agreed to her random request. I just couldn't take it anymore. _'There, there. It's ok Outer, you tried your best.' __'I HAVE AN INNER?'_ I totally just freaked out, listening to hours and hours of her constant nagging, begging, and reasons why she needed and wanted to go. She was like a miniature Konan. _'Good thing she can't hear you.' __'WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?'_ I felt like agreeing was going to backlash on me, and I knew it would. _'Now to decide who to send with her.' '__SHUT UP!' _This stupid 'inner voice' was getting to me, no matter. I continued with my thinking. Definitely NOT Tobi or Hidan, they would just be too reckless, annoying, and a bad influence on her. IT couldn't be Zetsu, he was currently on a long spy mission. Not Kakuzu or Kisame because they had upcoming bounties that needed to be taken care of. Deidara would fall asleep all the time and possibly belittle her, so Itachi or Sasori. Both are good candidates, from who she trusts as well. Itachi wouldn't speak much, and Sasori would be a chatterbox. Plus, Itachi is stricter than Sasori when it comes to her. She's close to both of them, so I guess Itachi is the one for the job.

_*Sakura's POV*_

I was reading a magazine when Itachi knocked on the door. He came in for a few short seconds and simply stated,"Leader-sama summoned us." "Kay." I got up from my current extremely comfortable position and walked beside Itachi. _'I'll be happy if he's the one who gets picked. He looks fiiine.' __'S-shut up Inner! I shouldn't think like that!'_ I started to blush, because of what Inner said, good thing Itachi wasn't looking at me. Lately, Inner has been really pervy lately, and quite frankly it's pissing me off. When we reached Leader-sama's office, Itachi knocked on the door and then we sat down. "I'm sure you know by now Itachi that I granted Sakura permission to go on that trip, seeing she screamed it out to the world." "Hai." _'He's just mad cause you beat him at his stupid mind game.' _"Good. You will accompany her for the time being. You will set out tomorrow, make sure you pack everything you need. Sakura you are dismissed." "Hai!" I shut the door, and decided to lean my ear to the door to listen in. "Itachi, please make sure she doesn't do anything reckless." He paused for dramatic effect, and did a classic sigh. "I assure you I will keep her safety my top priority Leader-sama." "Thank you. You are dismissed." I quickly got away from the door, and half-ran half-walked back to my room. _'Packing is not going to be fun.' __'You could say that again.'_

_*Next morning; 6 am* _"Sakura, let's go." I fell asleep on the floor while packing, how ironic. I felt someone pick up my bag, as I slumped back to the floor. "If your late, he won't let you go." :Huh? What time is it? Is that you Itachi?" "It's 6." "SHANNARO!" I jumped up, and ran to my bathroom and quickly got ready. As I was walking out~ "Uh, Sakura-" "Hu-" I tripped over my bag and face planted on the floor. "I put your bag there." *sigh* Your hopeless." I was still dizzy from the trip, so I had my eyes closed, and it didn't help my case that I was already half asleep either, so I quickly gave into temptation. Itachi picked me up, along with my bag. _'Don't open your eyes now, but there's an Uchiha carrying you.' _UGGH, I did not want to hear Inner's pervy comments this early in the morning. "Do you want to say your goodbyes now, Sakura?" "Oi! Wake up, un!" _'How ironic, Deidara telling you to wake up.' _I was totally not even awake when Itachi set my down on my feet and Tobi tackle-hugged me. "Tobi is gonna miss Sakura!" "Huh? Is that you Tobi?" I opened my eyes to find myself being pried off from Tobi's bone-crushing hug and into Deidara's tight hug. "Gonna miss you Sakura, un." "I'm gonna miss you too Dei-kun." "Hmph. What about me Sakura-chan?" I attempted to hug Sasori, but he caught me instead. "You must be really tired Sakura-chan." "Is it noon yet?" He just laughed. "I'll see you soon. Don't do anything stupid." "Bye Sasori-kun!" I was being pulled away by an agitated Uchiha. "Bye guys!"

It was suddenly dead quiet in the base. "She made this place so lively, un." Sasori nodded in agreement (which was quite rare between the two artists). "Yeah. It's gonna be a long month." Both them already missed her cheery smile. _*back to Sakura* _Last but not least, my final goodbye was with Leader-sama. "I promise I won't do anything too reckless and *yawn* and stuff." _'That sounds so promising.' _"Good luck Sakura, Itachi." He nodded as I waved goodbye sleepily. "How much sleep did you get?" "Well its 6:30 now, you woke me up at 6, soooo 15 minutes." I lagged behind Itachi. "Why did you pack so much?" "Well I've only been outside the base a couple times. I didn't know what to bring *yawn* so I prepared just in case."

"Even at the cost of being sleep-deprived? Now I just have to carry you." _'Ooh, I like that idea.' _Whatever, I was too tired to care or argue, so I just closed my eyes, and suddenly felt very warm. _'That's an Uchiha for you.'_ I tried my best to ignore Inner, the huge pervert who talks to me inside my head (that makes me sound really delusional). "Are we there yet?" "No, I don't even know where we are going, I', just heading north." I just yawned and totally ignored him and his obvious question to where I wanted to go. I was totally delusional (I think that's my new favorite word). To break the silence, I pulled out random questions that I made up.

"How old is the moon Itachi?" "What?" "Wait- how old is Leader-sama. He's probably like 90 something." I giggled, having no idea what the heck I was saying. "You are so strange Sakura." _'I couldn't agree more, Mr. Handsome face.' _"Did you know cats have tails?" I started to laugh uncontrollably, and detected a small laugh from Itachi as well. "I wonder if Leader-sama and Konan are married. They are, aren't they?" No response. "Aww, your no fun Itachi." "Why don't you just rest?" "Why, do I annoy you?" "No. But I don't want to carry you the whole day." "Yeah, yeah. *yawn* doesn't Kisame remind you of a fish? I gonna start calling him Fishy-chan again."

_*Itachi's POV*_

I sighed. She was amusing, but oh so delusional (_A/N: I DON'T KNOW WHY I KEEP USING THE WORD 'DELUSIONAL' GAAH!)_. She hasn't said anything for awhile, so she must finally be asleep. I needed to keep her up though, despite how she needed the sleep, because SHE was supposed to lead this mission. I set up camp, realizing she wasn't going to wake up willingly any time soon. I set up a one person tent- obliviously for her- and made a small fire using ninjutsu. Figuring she wouldn't wake up for awhile, I pulled out my book from my bag and continued reading, occasionally looking around the area. She looked cold. It couldn't be helped~ I picked up her lifeless body and set her gently down in the tent, and out a blanket over her. As I was getting up, suddenly she grabbed my wrist. She had a pretty strong grip for being asleep too. *Sigh* I attempted to pull away, without waking her up, but she wouldn't let my wrist go. So I sat there, in the small tent, with Sakura holding my wrist, now hand, and then she put my hand on her cheek. She looked so peaceful while she was sleeping. Slowly, she lessened the grip off my hand, and I quickly exited the tent. Returned to where I was originally sitting. It was only 10 in the morning. Bored out of my mind, I just read, occasionally surveying the land. She was still asleep when I got back from surveying at four. It was 6 when she finally woke up.

_*Sakura's POV*_

I knew I had been sleeping, for who knows how long, but I was still tired. Itachi was probably pissed at me for sleeping. I got up and out of the tent. "Itachi, how long have I been sleeping?" "Almost 12 hours now." "Why didn't you wake me up!" "Well you didn't get any sleep, so I figured we would leave when you woke up, but I got caught up with my reading. Are you ready to leave now?" I sat across from him, with the small fire in front of us."We should stay here till tomorrow then." "Hn." I just looked around, observing the stars, while he continued reading. _'Say something girl!' _"Um….thanks for carrying me earlier." "No problem." _'You're getting him to talk! Keep it up!' _"Soo...what did I say when I was falling asleep?" I had a hint of blush on my face, hoping I didn't say anything idiotic. "Well, first you asked me how old the moon was, and you said that Leader-sama looked like he was 90 years old. It was quite an amusing conversation." He had a small smile on his face. "You must think I'm delusional (_A/N: DAMNIT I SAID IT AGAIN! I NEED TO FIND A NEW WORD!)_ now." "Eh. You were just tired."

I looked up at him. "Hungry?" I nodded. "Here" I anime sweat dropped _(A/N: What the freak, is that what it's even called? Lol)_ as he pulled out two sticks of dango. "Umm..?" "What?" "N-nothing." I ate them slowly, savoring it. Trying to break the silence I said, "So what is Sauske like?" He looked up at me and smirked. "Hopefully strong and full of ambition." He looked kinda sad when I said that, so I switched the topic. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?" "I had a serious girlfriend that I had an arranged marriage with, but she was an Uchiha." I just made it worse.

'_Way to go Outer.'_ "I'm sorry.""It's ok, you didn't know." It got quiet, really fast. "So what are you reading about?"He motioned for me to sit next to him. As I did, he pulled out a book. "You sure read a lot." It looked like it roughly looked had over a thousand pages. "What's this one about?" I looked into it. It contained thousands of scientific and math-looking equations and solutions. "Did you solve all of these?" He nodded. "S-so you're like a super genius!" He chuckled, "I don't know how to respond to that." _'Did you see that Outer! You made him laugh! Aww he's soo cute!' _"I wish I was as smart as you. You must be a prodigy or something." Believe it or not, Itachi Uchiha actually LAUGHED and out his arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. Inner almost died of blood loss! I blushed, and tried to hide it. _'I shouldn't be blushing! He's like an older brother to me!'__ 'He's only 9 years older than you. I think it's cute.' __'Of course you do Inner, you perv!'_

"You're a funny girl Sakura." "Y-you think?" "Yeah." I continued to look in the book, attempting to figure some of them out. "So, is the answer to this equation 2?" "Um... Sakura. It's a chemical equation." "Oh..I knew that!" "Sure you did." I was blushing red. "I, um, will be right back." "Ok?" I quickly got up and walked west of our campsite. _'You ok Inner? You haven't said anything in a while.'__ 'You should have kissed him, you twit!' __'Inner! I already said this; he's like a brother to me!'__ 'Are you sure about that?'_ I blushed, and took a breather. _'That Uchiha is fiiine. I think he likes you. __'No. He is supposed to take care of me on this mission.'__ 'He sees to be enjoying it. You were blushing like crazy Outer.' __'J-just shut up!'__ 'That's what I thought.'_ I sighed and continued to walk back to the campsite, where I found Itachi reading, AGAIN.

I thought of all of the Akatsuki members besides Konan and Leader-sama, as my big brothers. Leader-sama was like a fatherly-figure, and Konan was like a motherly-figure to me. But I couldn't hide the fact that I had feelings for Itachi, whatever they were, they made me nervous. I quickly sat down again across from Itachi, and pulled a scroll out of my bag, and pretended to read it. The sun was starting to set, being 8 pm already. I don't think I've ever been alone with Itachi this long before.

'_Your 15 and he's 24.' __'What does that have to do with anything?'__ 'Just wait till your 18.' __'Inner! You perv!'_ I couldn't believe Inner was thinking that! If she was a person, I would slap her for saying something like that. "So…." I looked up at Itachi, and then back to my scroll. "You can sleep if you want." "Aren't you tired?" I've been sleeping ALL day! "Wouldn't want a delirious _(A/N: YOSH! NEW WORD!) _Sakura to carry around now would I?" I stuck my tongue out at him, and walked into the tent, plopping hard on the sleeping bag. I wasn't really tires, well sorta, but I didn't want to sit in across from Itachi with my confused feelings about him. He probably just saw me as a weird, pink haired girl that he had to take care of because Leader-sama picked him to. I feel asleep debating on whether, more like when, I should tell Itachi where I really wanted to go. He was gonna figure it out sooner or later. I'll just see how it plays. Most likely he's gonna be mad, including Leader-sama. _'You made this decision, so you should stick with it.'_ Inner was right, surprisingly. Hopefully tomorrow goes by quickly.

_*Next day; 7 am*_

I woke up, and yawned while I walked out of the tent, surprised Itachi was even sleeping. _'AWW! SO KAWAII!'_ He was in a sleeping bag, and had a book in his hand. _'What should I do Inner? Wake him up?'__ 'No. He so cute! kwah~~ '__Is 'kwah' even a word? You're no help.'_ Inner was being pervy again. I'll just wait for him to wake up. _'You should pretend you're asleep.' __'Why would I do that?'__ 'Maybe he'll kiss you!' __'OH MY KAMI-SAMA! SHUT UP INNER!'_ I debated on whether or not if I should wake up the sleeping Uchiha decided I shouldn't. I sat across from him and pondered about how I should reveal to him where I really wanna go. _'Stop stressin'. Everything will work out.' __'You say that with such ease Inner.'_ I grabbed a scroll out of my bag, and actually began reading it this time. Surprisingly, he woke up about 20 minutes later.

He was so quiet; I didn't even know he was awake until he started to put the tent away. I didn't say anything to him. He quickly folded the tent and the two sleeping bags by sealing tem within a scroll. After that, he put the book he was reading back in his bag. "You ready?" "Hmm. Oh yeah!" I copied his previous action, putting the scroll in my bag. "Which direction are we going?" "Umm…east." "Lead the way." "R-right." _'He's already made you blush today? Aww!'_ Inner's comment just made me blush even more. "Where are we headed anyways Sakura?" Crap. I had to lie, quick. "I read about this village east of here, near the Fire border, that has rare medical scrolls worth checking out." "Oh, ok." _'I can't believe he fell for it!' __'I know me either.'_

_*Time skip; 4 hours later*_

We were really close to the Fire border. I had to tell him soon. "Where is this village Sakura?" I pulled out a random scroll, and stopped for a moment, pretending to analyze it, making sure Itachi couldn't see the scroll either. "I'm pretty sure it's nearby." When we reached the closet village, I pretended like it was the one I was looking for. When we reached the nearby town, Itachi got suspicious. "I thought you said it was nearby?" "I thought so too." Itachi caught on. When I turned around to ask him something, I looked right into his Sharingan activated eyes. He used…the Sharingan…..ON ME? I was trapped in a genjutsu.

I've read about this genjutsu before. Konoha ANBU use it to get information. He quickly realized where I wished to go, and then he released the genjutsu. I could not believe he used his Sharingan on me. That made me furious. He never has before. Without thinking, I slapped him straight across his face, hard, and ran. I couldn't see very well, considering tears were forming from my eyes. Just then Itachi caught me…..in a hug? "Sakura. I didn't mean to use my Sharingan, it was a gut instinct. Please…forgive me." When I looked up at him, his eyes were already back to the onyx-colored eyes I remembered. With his hand, he wiped away some of my tears. "I…forgive you." I knew he was going to take me back to the base; it was only a matter of time. I felt his hand drift from my cheek, and then he pressed the pressure point on the back of my neck, I was out cold instantly.

_*Next day (back at base); Pein's POV*_

Itachi had returned with a sleeping Sakura in his arms. They had come back only being gone less than 3 days, which was rather shocking. Itachi had left my office to put Sakura to bed, and came back soon after. "I knew she wouldn't be out the whole month, but less than a week was unexpected." He sat down, with an agitated look in his eye. "She wanted to head to Konoha." I somewhat expected her to think about Konoha, but not her main destination. "Interesting." "I used my Sharingan on her to bring her back."His eyes turned cold. "Well, you did the right thing. If was in your position I would have dealt it in the same way." He looked angry with himself. "I'll talk with Sakura when she wakes up. Dismissed." He left my office without another word.

_*No POV*_

The Uchiha walked back to the pinkette's room. He left a note on her side table. He truly regretted doing that to her. He vowed to protect her, not harm her. He left. Hoping she would forgive him.

_*Sakura's POV*_

I woke to find a note at my beside table. It was from Itachi. It read, 'Sakura, I hope you can forgive me. I was only following orders, but I should have been less hostile about it. – Itachi'. I had already forgiven him. He was beating himself up about it, I could tell. I understood his nonchalant attitude well enough to know. As I got up to turn my light on, Leader-sama knocked on my door and came in. I quickly sat down back on my bed. _'Here comes "Boring Lectures 101".'_ He pulled over my desk chair and sat next to me. Before he could even speak I asked bluntly, "Why do the Akatsuki hate me?" He sighed (which he has done a lot more recently). "Why would you assume that? You should know that we only want to protect you from harm." I knew that was true, but tears came flowing down my face anyways.

_*Pein's POV*_

I think I just made things even worse. I wasn't the 'comforting type'. "Now Sakura, strong kunoichi don't cry." I managed to let out a smile (one that I would only show her). "Oh yeah? Well I wouldn't be so strong without this stupid mark on my forehead!" How could I even respond to that? "That's not true. Even without your mark, I would still believe in you." She was already lying down, obviously trying to avoid eye contact with me. But I did notice her eyes were closing. I tried to get up, but before I had the chance, she grabbed my hand.

"Thank you, Leader-sama." Her eyes, closed but her grip on my hand was still tight. She was probably asleep by now. "Don't you realize blossom, we only love and want to protect you." I felt so bad for her. "You brought us sanity to our tainted hearts, so please don't cry." She slowly let go of my hand. I had just remembered that I had to *sigh* finish paperwork. As I was making my way out, I noticed she had stopped crying. I shut the door quickly and quietly, and made it back to my office.

_*Sakura's POV*_

_ 'He thought you were asleep. How cute.'_ I couldn't believe Leader-sama had said that to me. I knew he cared about me, but not that much. I truly respected Leader-sama, even more now than ever. _*Next day* _IT was noon, and I decided to pay Leader-sama a visit. I knocked on the door and walked in quickly, making sure I shut the door tight. O skipped up to Leader-sama and bent down to his level to whisper to him. "Just so you know, I wasn't asleep when you said that. Arigatou Leader-sama." I left before he could respond. I could only over hear him say, "She never seizes to amaze me."

(A/N:)_ Sorry about all the a/ns throughout the story! This was a REALLY long chapter! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! It encourages me to type more! ;] Arigatou! (Sorry for all the capitalizing and spelling mistakes, my computer doesn't like me)._


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